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Old 04-14-2003, 03:05 PM   #8 (permalink)
Disc
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Join Date: Apr 2003
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the busa has one of the best, or should I say the best, aerodynamics among any bike. this bike was designed completely in the wind tunnel. It has the lowest drag coefficient of any Suzuki street bike ever produced.

Aerodynamics are very very important to reduce drag. Drag can affect and reduce the top speed of a bike. So these bikes are tested in the wind-tunnel, so as to develop new designs to reduce drag.

Drag primarily comes from positive pressures pushing back on the front-facing parts of the rider and motorcycle, as well as suction pressures pulling on the backward-facing parts, where the flow has separated.

Drag is proportional to the square of speed, and to the size of the motorcycle's frontal area. The constant of proportionality is called the drag coefficient, or Cd, and is primarily the function of shape. It indicates which shape is superior, but does not define the total aerodynamic
drag by itself. The product of the drag coefficient and the frontal area, A, gives the drag.

A larger motorcycle with a lower drag coefficient may be faster than a smaller, poorly-shaped motorcycle with a larger drag coefficient. The best measure of aerodynamic drag is the parameter known as the drag area, CdA, which has units of square feet. This can be interpreted as the size of a flat plate that has the same drag as the motorcycle.

A lower figure means less drag, and the Hayabusa recorded a Cda of 3.37 ft2 (0.313 m2).

To achieve 187.5 mph, the Hayabusa needs 147.6 horsepower to overcome drag alone. The effect of wind can vary the result, usually decreasing speed unless it's a tailwind.

Also, aerodynamics can make a powerful motorcycle can be slower than a less powerful motorcycle, i.e., if the less powerful motorcycle has great areodynamics. This is seen in the case of the ZX-12R and the Hayabusa. The ZX-12R is more powerful than the Hayabusa, yet its top speed is lower than the Hayabusa.
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